Americans United - milwaukeehttps://au.org/tags/milwaukee
enDisturbing Documents: Milwaukee Materials Underscore Extent Of Church Privilegehttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/disturbing-documents-milwaukee-materials-underscore-extent-of-church
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Far from being persecuted, church officials in America enjoy a privileged status that all too often places them beyond the reach of the law.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>We often hear from the Religious Right and the Catholic bishops that religious freedom is under attack in the United States. Sometimes even the word “oppression” is tossed about.</p><p>It’s especially ironic to hear the Catholic bishops make this charge, in light of some of the recent developments in the ongoing pedophilia scandal. A trove of documents <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/features/religion/Cardinal-Dolan-sought-to-protect-money-from-claims-struggled-with-Vatican-to-defrock-abusers-b9943953z1-213832541.html">released in Milwaukee this week</a> show that, far from being oppressed, religious groups in America tend to be treated with kid gloves – even when engaged in criminal activity.</p><p>The documents show that then-Archbishop Timothy Dolan sought Vatican approval to move nearly $57 million in archdiocesan funds off the books because Dolan (who is now cardinal of New York City) knew that money would be targeted by the victims of abuse who were filing civil lawsuits.</p><p>I’m not an attorney, but to me this looks like a simple case of shielding assets, a practice that is illegal and in just about any other context would spark a criminal investigation.</p><p>But there’s more. As the Milwaukee <em>Journal-Sentinel</em> reported, “In the decades before Dolan – now cardinal of New York – arrived in 2002, church leaders, including now-retired Archbishop Rembert Weakland, routinely moved pedophile priests from one parish or school to the next, shielding them from criminal charges, the records show.”</p><p>So it wasn’t just funds that were moved about – it was also priests whom church officials knew were molesting children. They were sent to different parishes and schools to prey on even more victims.</p><p>Top church officials’ practice of moving pedophile priests around like pieces on a chessboard is old news. How many of them have been punished by the secular arm of the law?</p><p>Precious few. Consider Weakland, for example. He retired in 2002 and wrote a memoir. At last report, he was living comfortably in Milwaukee with his expenses covered by the archdiocese.</p><p>A lot of people believe Weakland should have been subject to prosecution. In 1993, Weakland admitted in a court deposition that <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/78431087.html">he shredded</a> the weekly copies of reports of abuse by priests that he was given. In other words, he had evidence of criminal activity and destroyed it. That’s illegal. (It’s immoral too, but that’s another story.)</p><p>Imagine, for a moment, if a secular corporation had done these things. Imagine a nationwide company whose top leaders were handed solid evidence that some of their employees were guilty of sexual crimes against children. Now imagine that their response was to transfer these employees to other branches – without, by the way, alerting anyone at those other branches to the problem.</p><p>Imagine that executive vice presidents of this company destroyed evidence linking employees to child abuse and cooked their firm’s books to hide profits because they knew civil lawsuits were likely.</p><p>This company would be shut down. Its top leaders would be in prison. The only reason that hasn’t happened to the church in this case is that too many state officials, instead of enforcing the law, kowtow to a wealthy and powerful church.</p><p>I am reminded of a case from New Orleans in the early 1990s concerning a now-defrocked priest named Dino Cinel. Local officials knew Cinel had a collection of child pornography, material that it’s illegal to possess. Among them were homemade videos of Cinel engaging in sex acts with teenage boys.</p><p><em>Vanity Fair</em> <a href="http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news5/1991_12_Bennetts_UnholyAlliances.htm">reported</a> that Harry Connick Sr., who was at the time district attorney of Orleans Parish (county), was reluctant to charge Cinel despite a recommendation from his investigators that the office do so. Connick later told a local television reporter that he did not want to embarrass “Holy Mother the Church.”</p><p>This was a pattern that was to be repeated too often in the years to come. Some victims of abuse are finally getting a measure of justice through civil lawsuits, but to date, only a handful of church officials have faced criminal charges. One of them, Msgr. William Lynn of Philadelphia, was <a href="http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/07/24/12928246-philadelphia-monsignor-william-lynn-gets-3-6-years-for-cover-up-in-catholic-priest-sex-abuse-scandal?lite">found guilty</a> of child endangerment after he covered up and destroyed evidence of abuse; he was sentenced to three-to-six years in prison.</p><p>The recent document dump in Milwaukee shows that, far from being persecuted, church officials enjoy a privileged status that all too often places them beyond the reach of the law. They should stop whining – and the rest of us should get serious about making sure that all organizations in this country – religious and secular – are held to the same standard of laws.</p><p>P.S. "The Wall of Separation" will be on hiatus until July 8. Happy Independence Day!</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/other-free-exercise-issues-including-rfras-zoning-etc">Other Free Exercise Issues (including RFRAs, zoning, etc.)</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/other-issues-regarding-churches-and-politics">Other Issues regarding Churches and Politics</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/cardinal-timothy-dolan">Cardinal Timothy Dolan</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/william-lynn">William Lynn</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/milwaukee">milwaukee</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/roman-catholic-church">Roman Catholic Church</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/pedophilia-scandal">pedophilia scandal</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/dino-cinel">Dino Cinel</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/harry-connick-sr">Harry Connick Sr.</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/rembert-weakland">Rembert Weakland</a></span></div></div>Wed, 03 Jul 2013 16:58:31 +0000Rob Boston8741 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/disturbing-documents-milwaukee-materials-underscore-extent-of-church#comments‘Choice’ Charade: Religious School Leaders Want Your Money But Not Your Oversighthttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/choice-charade-religious-school-leaders-want-your-money-but-not-your
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">The Catholic bishops are very clear about one thing: They want your tax money for their schools with no strings attached.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Supporters of private school “choice” – by which they mean their right to choose to pass the bill for private religious education to the taxpayer – believe they are on a roll. To some extent, they’re right.</p><p>In March, Indiana’s Supreme Court ruled that the state’s voucher plan doesn’t violate a provision in the Indiana Constitution that bars tax aid to religion. In the wake of that ruling, legislators promptly <a href="http://www.ibj.com/voucher-expansion-clears-indiana-legislature/PARAMS/article/41036">approved an expansion</a> of the program.</p><p>Several states are considering voucher programs and some are experimenting with so-called “neo-vouchers” – convoluted schemes whereby corporations donate money to non-profits that grant “scholarships” (vouchers) to students and then receive most of that money back in the form of a tax credit. (Americans United is <a href="http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20130427-NEWS-304270323">challenging a plan like that</a> in the New Hampshire courts.) Various other schemes to divert tax funds to religious schools have been proposed in other states.</p><p>“We’ve never had so much wind at our back,” John Schoenig, director of the University of Notre Dame’s Program for Educational Access, <a href="http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1301991.htm">told Catholic News Service</a> recently.</p><p>A couple of things struck me about this story. Number one, Schoenig notes that there are “400,000 empty seats in Catholic schools nationwide and approximately 36 percent (of them) are in states that have a school-choice program.” He adds that a number of Catholic schools have had to close recently, and this has spurred some people to look for creative ways to keep them open.</p><p>So, just to be clear here: In some states that have choice plans, some Catholic schools still suffer from under-enrollment. Why is this so? Perhaps because even some Catholic parents don’t want to send their children to those schools. It seems that what the church wants here is not “choice” but a taxpayer-funded bailout of a school system that even many of its members no longer wish to patronize.</p><p>Why aren’t parents knocking down the doors of Catholic schools? Some may not want to expose their children to an education infused with dogma, and often, a hefty dose of right-wing politics on issues such as birth control, abortion and LGBT rights.</p><p>But more to the point, many parents are waking up to the fact that private school tuition is often a waste of money. As <em>Time</em> magazine<a href="http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1670063,00.html"> noted a few years ago</a>, a rigorous study by the Center on Education Policy concluded that socio-economic factors are more important than where a young person goes to school.</p><p>Center President Jack Jennings observed, “Contrary to popular belief, we can find no evidence that private schools actually increase student performance. Instead, it appears that private schools simply have higher percentages of students who would perform well in any environment based on their previous performance and background.”</p><p>Even with a voucher in hand, most families have to pay something to cover the costs of private institutions. With the cost of higher education skyrocketing, many parents would rather save those dollars and plow them into a college fund. </p><p>Secondly, the Catholic News Service story is quite frank in noting how the Catholic hierarchy used euphemisms like “parental choice” and other warm and fuzzy terms to change the debate. Sister John Mary Fleming, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Catholic Education, said that church leaders also framed the matter in terms of social justice.</p><p>Church officials almost never say the word “vouchers.” They know that concept does not poll well, and they are aware that every time Americans get the opportunity to vote directly on vouchers through a ballot initiative, they reject the idea. The bishops’ use of less-threatening terms is an important part of their strategy.</p><p>Finally, the bishops are very clear about one thing: They want your money with no strings attached. Sister John Mary told Catholic News Service that the bishops often lobby for vouchers but do so with “their eyes open” and are careful to make certain that legislation does not result in government “reaching into Catholic education.”</p><p>So, in the perfect world of the Catholic hierarchy, they get to saturate their schools with religion, they get to decide who teaches there, they get the “choice” about who gets in, they get to force all of us to prop up their flagging network of private schools – and they don’t have to worry about the bill.</p><p>It’s a sweet deal for them. Will it last? Maybe not. <em>Education Week</em><a href="http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/speced/2013/05/justice_dept_warns_wisconsin_v.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter"> reported recently</a> that the U.S. Justice Department has warned several private schools taking part in Milwaukee’s long-running voucher plan that they may not discriminate against students with disabilities. The department took action after advocates for the disabled noted that only 1.6 percent of voucher students have disabilities, while 20 percent of public school students are classified as having disabilities.</p><p>According to <em>Education Week</em>, the advocacy groups in Wisconsin charged that students with even minor disabilities were refused admission to voucher schools or, if they were admitted, were later expelled.</p><p>The Milwaukee voucher program is 22 years old, and this is the first serious attempt at regulation I’ve seen from federal officials. It’s a small step, but let’s hope it won’t be the last.</p><p>The fact that religious schools are getting our tax money to teach sectarian doctrines (and often controversial political views as well) is bad enough. That they’ve been able to do it without submitting to even the barest forms of oversight from the public that they demand pay their bills is nothing short of a disgrace.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/vouchers">Vouchers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/tuition-tax-credits-and-deductions">Tuition Tax Credits and Deductions</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/vouchers">vouchers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/indiana">Indiana</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/wisconsin">Wisconsin</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/milwaukee">milwaukee</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/us-justice-department">U.S. Justice Department</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/sister-john-mary-fleming">Sister John Mary Fleming</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/john-schoenig">John Schoenig</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/notre-dame-university">Notre Dame University</a></span></div></div>Mon, 06 May 2013 15:11:27 +0000Rob Boston8348 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/choice-charade-religious-school-leaders-want-your-money-but-not-your#commentsChoice Charade: Lessons From Wisconsin’s Voucher ‘Experiment’https://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/choice-charade-lessons-from-wisconsin-s-voucher-experiment
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">A miraculous infusion of taxpayer money gives a Lutheran school new life.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Advocates of private school vouchers often point to Wisconsin as a model. The state has had a voucher plan since the early 1990s. At first limited to secular private schools in the city of Milwaukee, the voucher scheme was later expanded to include religious institutions.</p><p>Other changes are more recent. A similar plan was set up in Racine, and in Milwaukee, income caps were raised, and suburban private schools were brought into the plan. The upshot of this is that a plan that was once described as an “experiment” to help low-income families in troubled areas of Milwaukee is now firmly entrenched and aiding middle-class families in the suburbs.</p><p>Who saw that coming?</p><p>Well, actually, Americans United did. Twenty-one years ago when the Wisconsin plan was proposed, we warned that it wouldn’t increase student performance, wouldn’t help the poor and would end up bailing out financially troubled religious schools.</p><p>No, we’re not psychic. Plain old common sense told us that the claims of voucher boosters were wildly exaggerated. On student performance, for example, the record is clear: Voucher students <a href="http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/local_schools/article_4f083f0e-59a7-11e0-8d74-001cc4c03286.html">are doing no better</a> than their public school counterparts, and in some cases are doing worse.</p><p>Amazingly, this is happening even though the playing field is uneven. Voucher schools, unlike public institutions, don’t have to accept all comers. Voucher schools have the ability to cream the best students – and they still can’t out-perform public schools.</p><p>At the same time, many of the private schools taking part in the program see imparting religious instruction as their primary goal.</p><p>In Milwaukee, Salem Evangelical Lutheran School was on the verge of closing due to low enrollment when, lo and behold, a miraculous infusion of taxpayer money gave the school new life.</p><p>“This is an outreach,” Principal Steven Carlovsky <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/voucher14-7e6fv29-166058976.html">told</a> the Milwaukee <em>Journal Sentinel</em>. “We’re bringing the Gospel.”</p><p>Indeed the school is – thanks to a government bailout funded by a lot of people who are not evangelical Lutherans and who may disagree with the gospel Carlovsky’s school promotes.</p><p>Wisconsin, under its Tea Party-friendly governor Scott Walker, is going through a rough patch right now. But all hope is not lost. In a recent primary election, the pro-voucher front group the American Federation for Children, founded by billionaire Betsy DeVos of Amway fame, poured money into a race for state assembly between incumbent Jason Fields and challenger Mandela Barnes.</p><p>Vouchers were a major issue in the campaign. Fields, a voucher advocate, <a href="http://onmilwaukee.com/family/articles/augprimary.html?31087">relied on DeVos’ money </a>and a barrage of radio ads. By contrast, Barnes ran a grassroots campaign and knocked on a lot of doors in the district. He engaged Fields directly on the voucher issue and stressed his support for public education. <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/166210236.html">Barnes won</a> in a blowout, taking 68 percent of the vote.</p><p>The results should give Wisconsin’s leaders pause. Americans want a strong, adequately funded public school system, not privatization. Wisconsin’s voucher plan was a mistake 21 years ago, and it remains a mistake today. The “experiment” has failed. It’s time to end it.</p></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Issues:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/issues/vouchers">Vouchers</a></span></div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/wisconsin">Wisconsin</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/milwaukee">milwaukee</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/vouchers">vouchers</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/steven-carlovsky">Steven Carlovsky</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/jason-fields">Jason Fields</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/mandela-barnes">Mandela Barnes</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/betsy-devos">Betsy DeVos</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/american-federation-children">American Federation for Children</a></span></div></div>Fri, 17 Aug 2012 15:19:47 +0000Rob Boston7453 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/choice-charade-lessons-from-wisconsin-s-voucher-experiment#commentsShekels And Shackles: What The Government Funds It Also Regulateshttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/shekels-and-shackles-what-the-government-funds-it-also-regulates
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Of course acceptance of tax aid is going to result in regulation of private schools. That has been the trend in every voucher plan operating in the country.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>As a kid I attended a private religious school for eight years. In the seventh grade, a new student joined our class.</p>
<p>Molly was – how shall I say this? – a "problem child." She smoked cigarettes, frequently cut class, cussed like a longshoreman and ran with a rough crowd. Our school was known for its strict discipline (not to mention intimidating nuns), and Molly's parents hoped it would provide the structure she needed.</p>
<p>It didn't work out that way.</p>
<p>After just a few months, Molly was gone. Even the nuns couldn't handle her. She was sent back to public school.</p>
<p>So much for school "choice."</p>
<p>I thought of this incident after reading about a new report out of North Carolina. The voucher crowd is putting on a big push for private/religious school aid there, and as part of that, the John Locke Foundation surveyed private school officials.</p>
<p>The organization <a href="http://www.johnlocke.org/acrobat/policyReports/jlfprivateschools062909.pdf">found</a> that private schools are eager for tax aid. Eighty-six percent said they would support a voucher program. But at the same time, the private school community was clear there are some things it doesn't want: government oversight, regulation or accountability. Seventy percent said they would not accept vouchers if that meant more state control over their institutions.</p>
<p>In other words, North Carolina private school officials will be all too happy to take your money. Just don't expect to have any say in how it is spent.</p>
<p>What planet are these people living on?</p>
<p><em>Of course</em> acceptance of tax aid is going to result in regulation of private schools. That has been the trend in every voucher plan operating in the country.</p>
<p>Most regulation will come from legislatures, but I would not overlook the role of the courts. The school I attended received no tax support, but what if it had? If Molly's parents had had a voucher in their hands, is it likely they would have simply accepted her expulsion? My guess is they would have gone to court.</p>
<p>Voucher plans usually contain regulation from day one. Ohio's voucher program prohibits schools from discriminating on the basis of religion in admissions. In Wisconsin, laws require voucher schools to allow publicly funded students to opt out of the religious aspects of the curriculum. In Washington, D.C., site of the nation's only federally funded vouchers program, schools are required to give first priority to students deemed educationally disadvantaged. Schools had to agree to submit to studies to determine the plan's effectiveness.</p>
<p>As voucher programs age, the trend is toward more regulation. A raft of new regulations is being considered in Wisconsin, home of the nation's oldest voucher plan. Under legislation currently being considered, voucher schools would be required to offer standardized testing, hire only teachers who hold at least a bachelor's degree and guarantee minimum yearly hours of instruction.</p>
<p>One lawmaker proposed that voucher schools with significant Hispanic populations be required to offer bilingual instruction. That <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/46771077.html">measure failed</a>, but the legislator says he plans to reintroduce it.</p>
<p>In Wisconsin, the debate is way beyond <em>whether</em> to regulate the religious and other private schools that receive vouchers. The debate is now over <em>what types</em> of regulations to impose.</p>
<p>Just to be clear, Americans United believes religious institutions should pay their own way. We oppose vouchers. No one should be taxed to pay for another's religion. The people sitting in the pews should pay for all of a church's projects, including its schools.</p>
<p>But in those cases where public aid is extended to religious education, regulations are appropriate and necessary. In fact, they need to be more far reaching. It's absurd to think that in Milwaukee, which has had a voucher plan since 1990, the legislature is just now getting around to making sure that teachers in voucher schools have the proper educational backgrounds.</p>
<p>The private school officials in North Carolina who are so eager to get government aid might want to consider this reality. If they believe they are going to get a windfall of public funds with no strings attached, they expect what never has and never will be.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/john-locke-foundation">John Locke Foundation</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/milwaukee">milwaukee</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/north-carolina">north carolina</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/school-vouchers">school vouchers</a></span></div></div>Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:37:40 +0000Rob Boston1998 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/shekels-and-shackles-what-the-government-funds-it-also-regulates#commentsSchool For Scandal: Milwaukee's Failed Voucher 'Experiment' Should Be Shut Downhttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/school-for-scandal-milwaukees-failed-voucher-experiment-should-be-shut-down
<a href="/about/people/rob-boston">Rob Boston</a><div class="field field-name-field-blog-type field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/blogs/wall-of-separation">Wall of Separation</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-callout field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Milwaukee&#039;s private-school voucher plan has been a disaster.</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="prose"><p>Youngsters attending the LaBrew Troopers Military University School in Milwaukee had a tough time of things.</p>
<p>Often they were forced to carry their desks over their heads. One student who wasn't well fell asleep in class and had a pitcher of water poured over his head. Several students, including one who is just six years old, said that if they broke the school's rules, they were punished by having their arms twisted behind their backs until they said, "I give." A nine-year-old girl said she was punished by being forced to carry around a bag of sand. Others were made to do push-ups on milk crates until their arms throbbed.</p>
<p>That a private school like this could exist is bad enough – but brace yourself because the story gets worse: Since 2003, the LaBrew School has received more than $4.5 million in <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/42304912.html">taxpayer subsidies</a> under Milwaukee's voucher program.</p>
<p>The Milwaukee <em>Journal-Sentinel</em> reported yesterday that the school suspended operations last month after a dispute over state aid. Since then, parents have been coming forth with horror stories.</p>
<p>Tabitha Watkins enrolled her three children in the school, believing the emphasis on discipline would be good for them. She soon came to regret it. "It's been nothing but misery," Watkins told the newspaper.</p>
<p>Other parents complained that the school's academic program was sub-par. State officials were clueless because there is no requirement that voucher schools report on student performance.</p>
<p>As the <em>Journal-Sentinel</em> reported, "State regulation allows almost no oversight over the programs in the private schools, short of the health or safety of students being threatened. LaBrew is not required to release any information on test scores or other data about student performance, and it has not done so."</p>
<p>Milwaukee's voucher program has been in place since 1990. Originally limited to non-sectarian private schools, it was later modified to permit religious institutions to take part. The Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1998 upheld the scheme, despite clear language in the state constitution barring public funds going "for the benefit of religious societies, or religious or theological seminaries."</p>
<p>State officials are <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/41920962.html">finally talking </a>about bringing some regulation into the program. That would be a great idea if it would spare families the type of pain Watkins and others went through. But I'm afraid it's just too late. Rather than begin regulating voucher schools, Wisconsin lawmakers should just shut down the program.</p>
<p>Why? Because it doesn't do what it's supposed to do.</p>
<p>A recent battery of studies of the Milwaukee scheme by University of Arkansas researchers <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/41868652.html ">found</a> that voucher students are doing no better academically than their peers in public schools. Another report actually found that the percentage of fourth-graders in voucher schools meeting the state's definition of proficiency in reading and math was actually lower than percentages for public school fourth-graders. (By eighth grade, the two were the same.)</p>
<p>The study did find that many voucher schools educate children for less money than the public schools. That's not surprising. How much money do you think institutions like the LaBrew Troopers Military University School spend on the kids?</p>
<p>Also, one study found that 94 percent of Milwaukee's public school teachers are state certified. The voucher schools have a lower rate of 69 percent. With a cheaper school comes the possibility of less-qualified teachers.</p>
<p>The <em>Journal-Sentinel</em> article about the studies reports, "[T]he finding that voucher students weren't really doing any better is probably not good news for advocates of a program that was envisioned in 1990 by backers as a powerful way to raise overall education results."</p>
<p>Gee, do you think?</p>
<p>Bottom line: This plan has been a disaster. It hasn't improved academic performance, it leaves vulnerable children in bad schools and it violates the religious liberty rights of the taxpayers.</p>
<p>Three strikes and you're out. Milwaukee's voucher "experiment" has failed. It's time to shut it down.</p>
</div></div><div class="tags clearfix"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/labrew-troopers-military-university-school">LaBrew Troopers Military University School</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/milwaukee">milwaukee</a></span>, <span class="field-item"><a href="/tags/vouchers">vouchers</a></span></div></div>Fri, 03 Apr 2009 14:30:47 +0000Rob Boston1968 at https://au.orghttps://au.org/blogs/wall-of-separation/school-for-scandal-milwaukees-failed-voucher-experiment-should-be-shut-down#comments